Hacker News: tmarsden

New comment by tmarsden in "Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26"

tmarsden — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 00:03:23 +0000

It definitely feels like they needed something, anything, to use as a marketing tool following the Apple Intelligence false advertising debacle.

New comment by tmarsden in "Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26"

tmarsden — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 23:39:02 +0000

I have a sneaking suspicion that the Liquid Glass redesign was something they had to push out the door to distract from the absolute trainwreck that is Apple Intelligence.

New comment by tmarsden in "F-Droid and Google’s developer registration decree"

tmarsden — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 15:10:45 +0000

per the FAQ: Faded text means that a comment has been downvoted. You can read the comment in normal text by clicking on its timestamp to go to its page.

New comment by tmarsden in "F-Droid and Google’s developer registration decree"

tmarsden — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 15:03:13 +0000

I'm not an expert here so please take what I say with a grain of salt.

It's my understanding that what's included in open source Android (AOSP) is FAR from a complete product and there is quite a bit of Google closed source/proprietary software that goes into the mix before it's shipped as Android (think Google Services.)

So, while you could fork AOSP and try to use that as a basis for and alternative mobile OS, it would require quite a bit of work on top of the AOSP code. This is what's done by custom ROMs like GrapheneOS (ironically Pixel devices only) or LineageOS for example.

New comment by tmarsden in "Ask HN: The government of my country blocked VPN access. What should I use?"

tmarsden — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 15:39:41 +0000

Well that "unhinged lunatic" has also publicly characterized himself as a "free speech absolutist" so until someone or something better comes along you take what you can get.

New comment by tmarsden in "iPhone DevOps (2023)"

tmarsden — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 21:43:42 +0000

I share that dream and, yes, it's getting closer with modern Android. IMO Google has seemingly embraced this path (e.g. with ChromeOS "merging" with Android) I could see a future where docked desktop mode in Android is basically like what we have today with ChromeOS.

https://www.androidauthority.com/run-desktop-linux-apps-on-a...

"An upcoming Android update will significantly upgrade the Linux Terminal app, enabling it to run full-fledged graphical Linux programs on supported devices"

New comment by tmarsden in "Ask HN: Would you get a CS degree today?"

tmarsden — Sun, 10 Aug 2025 23:01:56 +0000

Sounds like your son already has strong computer science skills. I would advise he focus on something OUTSIDE of that in college like business or finance. That way he can have another tool in his toolbox. That’s what I would do in hindsight.

Researchers find an undocumented "backdoor" in Chinese made ESP32 microchip

tmarsden — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 13:03:12 +0000

Article URL: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/undocumented-commands-found-in-bluetooth-chip-used-by-a-billion-devices/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43308758

Points: 11

# Comments: 2

New comment by tmarsden in "Niantic announces “Large Geospatial Model” trained on Pokémon Go player data"

tmarsden — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 04:46:57 +0000

I’m not sure why you are getting downvoted. Niantic has ties with the CIA.

New comment by tmarsden in "Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software"

tmarsden — Sun, 05 May 2024 02:38:59 +0000

They’re not my definitions, that’s straight from the source material. The idea of “surrogate activity” as I understood it was any goal "not directly satisfying your physical needs.” The aspect of it being made up is because it’s chosen by the individual and not a direct requirement of survival. To me that’s just two ways of saying the same thing.

New comment by tmarsden in "Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software"

tmarsden — Fri, 03 May 2024 18:45:23 +0000

You're probably right, it was a made up number to make a point. The point being that if you are not growing your own food (or hunting it) you're probably engaged in "surrogate activity" for a living and not directly satisfying your physical needs. Would you say more than 1/100,000 people in today's world grow and or hunt for their food daily?

New comment by tmarsden in "Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software"

tmarsden — Fri, 03 May 2024 18:20:48 +0000

Completely agree, his ideas could stand on their own there was no need to push them with violence.

New comment by tmarsden in "Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software"

tmarsden — Fri, 03 May 2024 18:17:24 +0000

Attracting a mate and reproduction easily falls under "satisfying your physical needs" and I would argue is a deeply wired survival instinct.

In his words "the pursuit of sex and love (for example) is not a surrogate activity, because most people, even if their existence were otherwise satisfactory, would feel deprived if they passed their lives without ever having a relationship with a member of the opposite sex."

New comment by tmarsden in "Woodworking as an escape from the absurdity of software"

tmarsden — Fri, 03 May 2024 17:55:44 +0000

I think this all boils down to what Ted Kaczynski talked about in "Industrial Society and Its Future." Specifically "The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race" because "in modern industrial society only minimal effort is necessary to satisfy one’s physical needs." I would say 99.999% of all modern work is "surrogate activity" (an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that people set up for themselves merely in order to have some goal to work toward.)

It's no surprise you can end up feeling empty and unfulfilled in a career like software development, or any other modern career, you are putting energy and emotional involvement that you would otherwise have put into the search for physical necessities. I think this is particularly acute for those in software development because it is so abstract and disconnected from the physical world. Biologically speaking fulfillment should come from satisfying your physical needs (i.e. surviving) not from the pursuit of some made up goal.

New comment by tmarsden in "Krazam OS"

tmarsden — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 18:28:43 +0000

Anyone know if Omegastar can support ISO timestamps yet?

New comment by tmarsden in "The New Reality of Digital Nomads"

tmarsden — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 20:25:32 +0000

I totally agree with you, it is a luxury to be able to live minimally knowing you can afford to just buy/rent/hire for a need when it comes up. On the other hand having less money means you might need to keep more tools or spare parts around just in case which means more clutter.

New comment by tmarsden in "The New Reality of Digital Nomads"

tmarsden — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 18:34:21 +0000

This is what the WEF meant when they said “You'll own nothing and you'll be happy.”

It’s not all bad really. As someone in the US living the middle class “American Dream” honestly it’s too much stuff. I don’t want so many things and am constantly looking for ways to minimize possessions.

New comment by tmarsden in "Sudo for Windows"

tmarsden — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 20:08:56 +0000

I hope you’re right! They sort of did the same thing already with Edge given it’s just Chromium under the hood.

Reminds me of a specific thought experiment with a boat.

New comment by tmarsden in "Take the Road Most Documented"

tmarsden — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 14:04:00 +0000

Ironically sticking with a Windows on the Dell XPS would have proved even more reliable and stable than Arch.

New comment by tmarsden in "How to Not Get Screwed over as a Software Engineer [video]"

tmarsden — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 20:13:59 +0000

Injecting humor into a dark or sad situation is very common. It's a way to lighten the mood a bit when the topic is difficult. People joke about death for example and that's a much more serious topic than a startup cap table.